Ghosts of you
by Coelectichi
Summary: Seto has to face the possibility of loosing his lover and Mokuba is loosing his best friend. How will they cope, unable to help each other through their grief? Better summary inside. Warning character death, implied SetoYuugi. ONHOLD
1. Prologue

Heva: Ok this story is kinda depressing, not a hundred percent sure why I wrote it but I think it's my attempt to make sense of all the things that have been happening in my life recently so lets see how it turns out.

Summary: Seto has to face the possibility of life without the one he loves, and Mokuba is loosing his closest friend. Those around them are facing their own problems and can't help him as he drifts in and out of depression. Can he recover his life and help those around him, or is it going to turn into a suicide fanfic? It mainly revolves around Seto and Mokuba's feelings at the time.

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Seto paced up and down the waiting room. He had been there for almost three hours now without hearing anything new. Why had it happened? Why? Anyone deserved it more than he did! Heck Mokuba deserved it more than he did but no only the good die young. Seto allowed a tear to roll down his cheek before trying to draw the tattered remains of his mask back together. It was worthless as the tears began to drip down his chin and splash onto the floor below. He collapsed into the chair and began to weep into his hands. Half sobs escaping every now and then. It must have been at least ten minutes he guessed before he had it back under control again. The clock ticked loudly, every second making his heart ache that little bit more.

Tick … another second not knowing.

Tick … another second when his boyfriend may have stopped breathing.

Tick … another second without life?

They hadn't even gone public with their relationship yet. Seto hadn't wanted to until they were both certain that the relationship was what they really wanted. Only their family and Joey knew, they hadn't even told the others yet! Seto had been going to tell him tonight that he thought they should tell them. He had been going to take the step and tell them tonight at Joey's party.

"Are you the boyfriend?" asked a hesitant voice from the doorway. Seto looked up into the eyes of the nurse who had spoken.

Seto nodded mutely.

"You can come and see him now if you want. If you will just follow me, please." The nurse turned as Seto stood, feeling completely nub. He was expecting the worst after being told about the accident. The other guy died on impact, his corpse thrown through the widescreen as the pedestrian was crushed by the front of the car and the solid brick wall behind. It was apparently one of the most spectacular survivals in the last year, but that didn't comfort Seto.

"He's stable but don't hold out much hope, even if he gains consciousness he won't be the same. He has severe brain damage from the collision so he'll probably never recover." Seto felt like screaming at her but remained silent as he opened the door and stepped into the room. The glaring whiteness was in stark contrast with the red blood being pumped around various tubes, and the multitude of machines. Seto felt the tears prick at the corners of his eyes as he gazed at the figure in the bed. His boyfriend, his lover, the only one other than Mokuba ever to put up with him for any length of time. He pulled the seat someone had placed in the room to the side of the bed. His hands held a smaller paler hand in theirs as tears fell down his cheeks again.

"You can't leave; me and Mokuba need you. I can't live without you. I'm a complete wreck. I've cried three times today, three, that's more than I've ever cried in my life." Seto smiled through his tears as he gazed at the face of his boyfriend. "I need you, Yuugi, my Yuugi."

The ward was silent apart from the occasional beep, quiet sobbing and the ticking of a clock, counting down the seconds left.

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Heva: I know it's short but it's only the prologue I'll upload the first chapter when I can.


	2. Bad news confirmed

Heva: I know it's short but I haven't had anytime to write recently so I'm just uploading what I've got written, hopefully I'll have more free time over half term next week so expect some kind of update then. Hope the chapter isn't too bad.

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"Mokuba," someone called across the playground. Mokuba was sitting on the steps on his own looking miserable. "You ok?" asked the person as they sat down next to him.

"Seto won't answer his mobile and his secretary says no one's seen him in the last few hours. They don't know what happened other than he got a call and left almost immediately. I don't know what happened, how am I supposed to help nii sama if he won't talk to me?"

"May be he's already at the hospital? You know they don't allow mobile phones on in there, it affects the instruments or summat like that. I'm not really sure." Joey put an arm around Mokuba and gave him a hug. "Things will work out fine you'll see. Everything will be ok."

Mokuba's phone started ringing, the display claiming it was Seto's private mobile that was calling them.

"Nii sama?" he asked quickly, almost before he had the phone next to his ear. His reply was a muffled sniffling.

"Hello Mokuba. I…" Seto burst into sobbing as he tried to get his sentence out. Mokuba guessed his expression said it all as he felt Joey hug him again. He expected Joey was treating him the way he used to do when his sister was unhappy and somehow that thought comforted him.

"It's ok, where are?" Mokuba managed to ask Seto between the sobs.

"At the hospital."

"Wait there and I'll be there as soon as I can be." Mokuba put the phone down and buried his face in Joey's chest as he felt tears begin to leak from his eyes.

"Shh," Joey tried to sooth him by rubbing circles on his back. "It'll all be fine, you'll see."

"No it won't. Seto was crying; he never cries, never." Joey wasn't sure what answer to give, Mokuba knew Seto better than he did and in the time he'd been with Seto the guy was practically emotionless. There had been the occasional smile around Yuugi and Mokuba but that was it. Seto crying was definitely a rare occurrence.

"It's probably just shock at seeing Yuugi in hospital. I mean everything looks worse than it actually is in hospitals."

Mokuba snivelled as he looked up at Joey. His red-rimmed eyes connecting with Joey's watering ones.

"You're right, I'm over reacting. We don't even know anything for definite."

"That's the spirit, now let's go sign out."

"What am I going to say?"

"We're going to say that our friend is in hospital and we need to go see him."

"You're coming?"

"Of course, you don't think I'd leave you to go alone?"

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Seto was standing by the café near the entrance as they walked into the hospital. One look at him told them the situation was bad. He had tear stains on his cheeks and red rimmed eyes. The group walking to the hospital had multiplied since Mokuba and Joey had signed out; now Atemu, Tristan, Serenity, Tea, Bakura and Ryou had joined them. The relationship between Yuugi and Seto hadn't been explained to the others yet but no one had asked why Seto was already at the hospital. It must have been assumed that he had some reason, Joey guessed.

"How is he?" Joey asked as they walked over.

"Stable but the doctors don't have much hope," Seto looked down at his feet as the tears began falling again as he spoke. The sentence felt like a kick in the teeth to everyone around. It was what they had all feared the most.

"There's your coffee dear," said the woman behind the counter, she sounded too cheerful to the group gathered. It must be the job, Joey thought bitterly, she's probably so used to seeing people unhappy that it washes over her now. Seto took the two cups offered and began leading them through the myriad of corridors.

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The room was white; the way all hospital rooms seem to be, pure whiteness that hurts the eyes. Everyone blinked as they entered to try and adjust from the more beige corridors.

There were a few chairs around the bed, only one occupied by Yuugi's grandpa. Seto walked over and handed him one of the cups before taking a seat on the other side of the bed. The group followed and sat down on the various chairs. Joey sat opposite Seto and met his gaze across the bed.

"What have the doctors said?" he asked, glancing at Yuugi's grandpa to see if he would answer the question.

"They don't think he'll recover." The statement was simple yet crushing at the same time. Joey felt the pain of realisation sink in as he let his gaze fall on his friend's pale form. He looked like he was sleeping, you could almost trick yourself into thinking he was just asleep if it weren't for the bruises.

"I got told even if he did recover he'd never be the same, there's too much brain damage for him ever to return to normal." Seto's eyes watered again.

"I don't know what to hope for," grandpa told them. "This isn't the way round things are supposed to be, he's meant to outlive me. He had so much left to accomplish, this just isn't the way it's meant to be." The tears soaked his tissue as he tried to wipe them away.

"It's true, only the good, the ones that don't deserve it die young," Atemu said as he gave grandpa a comforting pat on the back, a very poor attempt to console the old man. He'd never been good at comforting but anything was better than nothing.

"We're all around for a while then," Tristan concluded as he looked at Yuugi on the bed.

The clock ticked loudly as they settled into an uncomfortable quiet, only the occasional sob broke the monotonous silence.

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Heva: Hope you liked it, please review and tell me improvements, this chapter is unbeta'd so I apologise for spelling mistakes.


	3. He's gone

Sorry I haven't updated this in ages. I've been concentrating on other stuff, and I only seem to be able to concentrate on this when I'm feeling depressed. (It explains the awful writing) Hopefully this chapter is alright and I'll update Pantomime soon, when I feel better and exams are over cause they're making me feel bad cause I've realised how little I actually learned last term.

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The time passed slowly for Mokuba. Seto had spoken to his teachers explaining the situation and they had spoken with the exam boards about Mokuba's GCSEs. The marks would be changed accordingly when it was being marked to take 'extraneous circumstances' into account. It all sounded so unnecessary, yet impersonal how they dealt with these problems.

He spent his time at the hospital, in exams or with Yuugi's grandpa at the shop. He had a feeling that both of them didn't want to be alone at the moment. Seto was always at the hospital; sleeping in a chair or on the bed with Yuugi, eating from the hospital cafeteria or the food they bought in for him.

It had been a week now without change. The doctors were talking to Yuugi's grandpa about the possibility of organ donation which Mokuba took to mean they were planning on pulling the plug. He used to think that pulling the plug wasn't hard; the person was already practically dead so they weren't coming back. Now he was realising that it wasn't that simple, Yuugi was still there. He was alive and stable… just beyond repair. That was a horrible thought, but it was correct. Every test the doctors did showed he was still alive. He responded, there were still brain cells connecting somewhere. His iris's contracted in bright light. He was still breathing, admittedly a machine helped him and he'd die without it being there. His heart was still beating.

Mokuba kicked a stone on the path as he walked to school with Joey. They were spending more and more time together now, both lost in thought. They drifted around like zombies; not really there, just repeating mundane tasks.

"I …" Mokuba started to say before falling silent again. How do you start a conversation when you can't stop thinking about the decision that hung over Yuugi's grandpa right now?

"What exams have you got today?" Joey asked him, saving Mokuba the trouble of trying to continue his sentence.

The question made Mokuba try to remember the timetable he'd been given a few weeks ago for his exams. He struggled to picture the grid in his mind. There were two exams today, Seto had been asking him questions on the subjects when they were sat in the hospital yesterday, then Yuugi's grandpa again in the evening and at breakfast that morning. Although Mokuba had failed to recall much he guessed it helped distract the others from what was happening. I wish it could distract me, he thought miserably.

"I think I've got Geography this morning and one of the sciences this afternoon."

"I've always hated Geography. Too much writing involved. Too much maths stuff as well. Overall too much work." Joey stuffed his hands in his pockets and managed to do a decent impression of the typical moody teenager look, whilst muttering about how everything was too much work. Mokuba couldn't help smiling at him as they crossed the road.

"What you grinning about? You've got two exams today. Two! That's two more than I have so I don't see why you're happy." The rant, plus Joey 'accidentally' putting his two fingers up at most of the surrounding commuters as he emphasised the 'two', caused Mokuba to burst into hysterics.

"What's so funny?" Joey asked him as Mokuba nearly doubled over, tears beginning to leak from his eyes.

"You," Mokuba managed to choke out as he recovered from his laughing fit.

"Well I know I'm amazing and can cheer up anyone, but I'm not that funny." Joey pointed out, raising an eyebrow in concern at Mokuba as they started walking again. "You sounded like you were on laughing gas."  
"I just couldn't stop laughing," he managed to stutter as he wiped the tears from his eyes. "I feel better now though." Laughing must relieve stress then, Mokuba thought to himself, I never really believed it could help before but it seems to have helped.

"As long as it helped, come on or we'll be late," Joey said with a smile. Mokuba smiled back at him with his first genuine smile in what felt like years as they began to run down the street towards the school, making sure to dodge the pedestrians as they tried to reach registration on time.

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Seto felt the tears drip down his cheeks as he watched the doctors perform the check ups. Solomon stood next to him; his eyes now dry, unable to cry anymore than he already had in the last hour. One of the doctors approached them, clip board in hand, obviously trained to give bad news.

Seto found his business mind analysing everything, trying to figure out what was going to be said. He'd gotten rather good at anticipating the news in the past few days, which was a talent he would have rather done without. This was obviously bad news, Yuugi was still in the same state he had been before and they were almost certain he wouldn't improve.

"What is it?" Solomon asked the young doctor.

"The patient hasn't improved."

I hate it when I'm right, Seto thought miserably.

"We doubt that he will and advise you to consider taking him off the support systems."

Seto inwardly sighed. He wasn't going to get involved in this decision; there was no reason he should. He didn't want to make the decision and no one was asking him to so why should he make any effort to do so?

"Seto?" Seto was dragged out of his thoughts by Solomon calling his name.

"Yes?"

"Convince me I'm doing the right thing by agreeing."

"It's what Yuugi would have said to do," Seto said with a watery smile as he looked down at Solomon. It's amazing how much he looks like Yuugi, Seto thought as he saw the same look of determination appear as Solomon nodded to the doctors. He looked down at the floor unable to watch them remove the life support system.

"It should be a few minutes," he heard a doctor say before him and Solomon were left alone.

Solomon looked up at Seto's face to see his eyes tightly shut whilst tears leaked out from under the closed lids. He silently took hold of the CEO's wrist and pulled him towards the bed, before placing his grandson's hand and Seto's hand together.

"It's what Yuugi would have wanted," he said quietly as he met Seto's water-filled gaze.

They both stared down at Yuugi's face whilst his ragged breathing slowed down to nothing.

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Well I succeeded in making myself cry when I wrote this but they may be due to my terrible writing. Hope it wasn't too bad. R&R please.


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